FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BROGAN - PAGE 5

When Frank Brogan agreed to become Florida Atlantic University's president, he acknowledged the university faced challenges -- like squeezing money from a skimpy state budget and setting priorities in an institution with seven campuses spanning more than 100 miles. But by the time Brogan arrived a month later, FAU was confronting some far different difficulties. Campus and criminal investigators were exploring whether the university's money-raising foundation had arranged for a farewell gift of a sportscar for a former president.

By BILL HIRSCHMAN and LINDA KLEINDIENST Staff Writers and Staff Writer Kellie Patrick contributed to this story, July 11, 1997

Don't panic, Education Commissioner Frank Brogan counseled Thursday. All week, Broward and Palm Beach school officials have fretted that a new law will force them to delay building desperately needed classrooms and spend more money than necessary. But Thursday, Brogan said he has the power to interpret that law _ and that his interpretation won't be nearly as dire. Projects will remain undisturbed if they already are penciled in on districts' long-term construction plans, he said. "If some people will get a grip, slow down and realize we can get through this process, [they'd see)

On most ordinary campuses, student government offers essential lessons for undergraduates, many of them budding politicians. They typically learn how the levers of power work, how money is raised and appropriated for vital services, how to organize a campaign and be accountable to the electorate. But judging by the past year of dysfunction, Florida Atlantic University students appear to be learning exactly how government is not supposed to work. The governing body held three scandal-plagued elections.

By LINDA KLEINDIENST and LEDYARD KING Staff Writers, December 16, 1996

The rules may soon get tougher for those who teach Florida's 2.3 million public school students. Education Commissioner Frank Brogan, who helped engineer reforms aimed at improving student performance, has turned his sights on toughening the standards for teachers. "Before it's all over, I'll be branded as a teacher basher and all the like," said Brogan, a Republican who was opposed by the state's two teacher unions when he ran for office in 1994. "But it's time we take some of these issues on. It's long overdue."

After emerging from several hours of brainstorming between scientists from Florida Atlantic University and The Scripps Research Institute on Wednesday, FAU President Frank Brogan offered his brainchild for the best way to launch Scripps' presence in Palm Beach County: Build a temporary lab at one of the university's campuses. Palm Beach County, which is paying for temporary lab space and a permanent Scripps campus, plans to locate the interim lab space at a renovated building in the Pratt & Whitney complex in the northern part of the county.

Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan confirmed rumors Thursday he is in the running for a state education job. Brogan disclosed his plans to apply for chancellor of the State University System in a letter to faculty and students at the university in Boca Raton. "I have been approached by many influential people throughout the state regarding this opportunity, but only after much reflection and discussion with my family did I decide to pursue the opportunity and convey my intent to the individuals conducting the chancellor search," he said.

Boca Raton Frank Brogan shed his lieutenant governor's job and took the reins of Florida Atlantic University on Monday, promising to closely look at how the school is being run but saying nothing that would hint at administrative shake-ups. Brogan became FAU's fifth, and maybe most politically connected, president. He stepped into the job amid controversy: a police investigation into $42,000 allegedly given by the FAU Foundation to former President Anthony Catanese for a new Corvette. Brogan did not delve into many details about his plans for the 24,000-student university, but characterized his 18-member transition team as a fact-finding group that would examine FAU's internal organization as well as its relationship with the community it serves.

Promised and actual donations to Florida Atlantic University surged by about 45 percent in the past year -- a favorable sign as the university considers a major money-raising push, FAU President Frank Brogan said Wednesday. The university ended 2004-05 in June with about $28.5 million in gifts, pledges and state money to match previous contributions, according to fund-raising officials. FAU's fund-raising has been rocky in recent years, due largely to a shaky economy in the early 2000s and a shakeup in the money-raising operation in 2003.

Many school construction projects in South Florida could cost more and be delayed under a new interpretation of a state law by Florida education officials. The law, approved in the spring, was designed to curb wasteful school construction practices by tightening controls and financing. It also required that classrooms be designed much smaller. State Education Commissioner Frank Brogan, who is trying to decide how to put House Bill 2121 into effect, had planned to exempt any project listed in a school district's long-term construction plan.